Formula 1's managing director of motorsports Ross Brawn has said Daniel Ricciardo "became a passenger" in his crash with Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen, due to the nature of the technical rules.
Ricciardo attempted to pass Verstappen down the long Baku City Circuit start/finish straight by quickly switching to the outside, but the Dutchman was wise to the move and covered off the line. But just as Ricciardo darted left to take the inside, Verstappen did the same, forcing his team-mate to brake sharply.
This, according to Brawn, is where the inevitable happened and the Australian simply became a passenger in an unavoidable crash as his RB14 was robbed of the downforce it needed to slow sufficiently to avoid running into the back of Verstappen.
"I don't want to comment on who might be held responsible or how a team should manage these issues during a race, but I do think the stewards' decision to reprimand both drivers was the right course of action," Brawn said.
"But I would like to highlight a technical point. Once Daniel had settled for his line, and Max had changed direction blocking that line, the Australian became a passenger. The downforce loss experienced by Ricciardo in the wake of Verstappen's car would have made it unstoppable.
"We often think of downforce applying in cornering, but the impact the extra grip has in braking is huge," explained Brawn. "Take away that grip in braking and what happened on Sunday was inevitable."
The sport is taking steps to address this in 2021 when a new rules package will completely overhaul the technical regulations, but on Tuesday the FIA announced interim measures for 2019 to boost overtaking and make following another car easier, which Brawn says will go some way to avoiding this problem in future.
"Whilst this was a very severe example, it did highlight once more the need of finding a way to develop the rules to make the cars more raceable in these conditions.
"The decision of the Strategy Group and the F1 Commission taken yesterday, sanctioned by the FIA World Motor Sport Council, to approve a number of aerodynamic modifications, aimed at promoting closer racing and more overtaking for the 2019 season is definitely an important step.
"It's also important to note that the decision has been taken after an intense period of research into the FIA's proposals, which were made with the support of Formula 1 and, conducted by a majority of the teams. It showed good spirit and a good way of working together for a better and more spectacular Formula 1, which is what the FIA, Formula 1, the Teams, and most importantly, the fans want. Bravo."
